I Should Go
by Luxor Nautalis
Summary: She could see Alice was fighting it, the attraction between them. She could see how she tried to stay away, and she didn't understand it. Everything in her shouted for this, craved it. Didn't Alice feel the same?


**Disclaimer;** I do not own Resident Evil, their characters (though I wish I owned Claire...); their plot, theme or names, and I do not claim ownership to them. Nor do I claim ownership to "I Should Go". However, I DO claim ownership to my writing, so please don't steal =)

**Authors Note:** This is a short songfic using the song "I Should Go" by Levi Kreis. Okay, so I heard this song on Vampire Diaries, and I just HAD to do an Alice/Claire fic on it. It's just too perfect for words for the Clairice relationship, and there was no way I could resist such temptation. I'm way too addicted to songfics...Anyway, I hope you like it!

**Rating;** T for some language.

**Pair;** Alice x Claire

_Here we are_

_Isn't it familiar_

_I haven't had someone to talk to_

_In such a long time_

_And it's strange_

_All we have in common_

The glow of the fire cast her perfectly sculpted face into something more than terrifying, but it didn't take away the allure. Her knees were drawn tight to her chest while her arms wrapped snugly around them. Her face was set in it's typical cold, emotionless mask, but beneath the surface her thoughts and emotions raged. She studied the flames intently, as if the dancing destruction would reveal to her the answers she so desperately needed, but they didn't. All the fire gave her was warmth and light...no answers would be coming.

She was use to being alone. It was a necessity, one that had long since lost it's dark hold on her lonely heart. She was used to it, and, at the moment, she welcomed it, yearned for it. Every day, she felt herself slipping further and further away from that careful anonymity she had spent years constructing. Every warm smile, ever simple, welcoming caress and cheerful word caused the walls to crack a little bit more, and the thought of them coming down terrified her.

Four years, she had wandered the dying world alone. Four years she had spent running from everything she feared most. She blamed the cause for her constant flight on Umbrella. She had to stay under the radar, keep away from their every-watchful eyes, she told herself. But, the longer she stayed with the rag-tag group, the longer she tarried the more she realized what she had really been running away from.

Herself.

It wasn't Umbrella that scared her. It wasn't the hordes of flesh-eating cannibals waiting to spring on you at your most vulnerable moment, or even the fear of ever-dwindling supplies that scared her. She wasn't safe...even if Umbrella wasn't able to take control of her at any time their black hearts desired, she wasn't safe. Not even she knew the extent of her own abilities; she was a stranger in her own body, and it made her a liability to everyone that crossed her path.

Why, then, was she still here? For almost two months, she stayed, and, if she cared to admit it to herself, it wasn't because Carlos had asked her to. It could, in truth, be contributed to two things. On one hand, the walls that threatened to break, the walls that kept her aloof and indifferent were compromised, and the cold fear of being alone gripped her heart. It was an irrational fear. She was used to being alone, but the fear of loneliness was much easier to explain than the other reason she stayed.

_And your company was just the thing_

_I needed tonight_

_But somehow I feel I should apologize_

_Cause I'm just a little shaken by_

_What's going on inside_

The soft thump of a car door did nothing to ease her raging thoughts. Instead, it seemed to inflame them all the more. They modeled after the flames, dancing and twisting gruesomely. Just like the fire, her thoughts were destructive. They were uncontrollable. Like a burning cigarette butt tossed into a drought-infested forest, the wildfire of her mind raged beyond all reason. The sound of the door closing being it's former occupant was like her cigarette, and there was no stopping the flames not that they had taken hold.

She didn't need to look to know who approached her back, just as she didn't need to look to know that the woman undoubtedly had her arms crossed over her chest and her heart on her sleeve. It was just something she knew, as intimately as she knew her Nite-Tacs, or the Kukri blades at her sides. Even from her distance, she could smell the sweet scent of the redhead, and she closed her eyes for just a moment to soak it in.

It had been months, maybe even years since Claire had had a decent shower or bath, and she still smelled heavenly. Alice knew just as she knew the fire before her was hot that those red locks smelled like Lavender, and the woman herself...well, she smelled like home. Like fresh baked cookies in the kitchen, or leather polish after a day of cleaning. She smelled like everything Alice remembered that was best in the world.

The light, once only illuminating the blond with it's glow quickly attacked it's new target, eager to bring another subject into it's barren kingdom. Alice didn't look up, thought the action in itself was just what she craved more than anything, not so she could break her statue-like pose. She wanted so desperately to cast her eyes at the woman standing silent beside her. She yearned to gaze upon those perfectly beautiful face and to lock her own eyes with the green ones that held defiance, confidence and confusion. She wanted to soak up every prefect feature and store it away in her mind like a picture, unmarred by the ravages of time.

But she didn't.

Even as Claire moved to sit behind her, her delicate, muscled legs sprawled out before her, she forced her eyes to remain on the fire. The heat of the redhead's body so close to her own was more potent than the flames could ever be, and it ignited a fire in her soul, one that threatened to melt the ice surrounding her heart with every passing second. Claire was close, barely inches apart, and it was that closeness that Alice craved...craved and feared.

_I Should Go_

_Before my will gets any weaker_

_And my eyes begin to linger_

_Longer than they should_

_I Should Go_

_Before I lose my sense of reason_

_And this hour holds more meaning_

_Than it ever could_

_I Should Go_

_Baby I Should Go_

"Hey." It was the softest of whispers, barely audible above the crackle and fizzle of the destruction dancing before them, but Alice heard it as clear as a gunshot. Her eyes threatened to close at the sound of that perfect, soprano voice but steel-clad willpower kept her from doing just that.

"Heya back," she replied, her voice equally soft, but deeper and with the rasp. Such sharp contrast to the redheads; So sharp, in fact, it made the blond hate the sound of her own. The only voice she wanted to hear anymore was Claire's.

A few seconds passed in silence, even such a small pause almost painful to the weapon. Then, "Are you okay?" It was tentative, uncertain. "You were quiet today..."

The concern in Claire's voice was like a knife to her heart. It wasn't fake, like the half-hearted 'I'm sorry' people said when someone spoke of a dead loved one - everyone had lost loved ones in the world they lived in. No, this was genuine concern. Alice couldn't name the last time anyone had actually cared for her as anything more than someone who could help them survive, and the crack in her ever-crumbling walls grew at the sound of it.

"Just had a lot on my mind."

Against her better judgement, Alice turned her eyes to the redhead, taking a few more seconds to eagerly soak up every detail she already knew so well. Claire, instead of squirming under her gaze, looked back confidently, unfazed. If anything, she seemed just as eager. "Do you want to talk about it?" Concern again, mixed with underlying compassion. Those magnificent green eyes reflected the emotion in her voice, and Alice forced herself to look away before she said something she would regret.

She could lose herself in Claire's eyes if she let herself have the opportunity. Lose herself, and what little control she had left.

She gave the smallest of smiles, her lips barely twitching. "I'm fine, really," she said softly, reassuringly, but it didn't seem to do any good. Claire still looked concerned.

"Alice..."

"Thank you, though..." the blond said after a moment, turning once more to look at the woman beside her. "I can't remember the last time someone cared enough to ask."

This seemed to do the trick, because Claire smiled. The sight of it sent a flutter in the pit of Alice's stomach, and she couldn't force herself to look away. "I doubt that," the redhead stated. Alice gave a short, breathless laugh at her reply, giving cause for the other woman's smile to widen in the slightest.

"You'd be surprised."

"So would you...More people care about you than you think." At her words, Alice found the strength to pull her eyes away, though whether it was so the woman wouldn't see the self-hate in them or because she didn't believe it for a second, not even she knew.

_It's so hard_

_Keeping my composure_

_And pretend I don't see how your body_

_Curves beneath your clothes_

_And your laugh_

_Is pure and unaffected_

"Really? Like who?" There was no keeping the bitterness from her voice.

"Carlos, LJ, Kmart..." There was the barest of pauses, and the warmth of a hand on her own instantly brought her eyes back to the redheads. "Me."

The sincerity in her voice tore at Alice's heart, but it's effect was little compared to the look in Claire's eyes. Where Alice had come to expect fear, hatred and even disgust, all she saw reflected in those striking emerald depths was compassion, understanding and so much more...

"Claire..." It was a raspy whisper, a plea. "Don't."

"Don't what, Alice," the redhead said softly, studying the woman before her intently. Why couldn't Alice understand?

Claire wasn't stupid. Far from it, in fact. She saw the way Alice looked at her. It was like she was the last thing, the last treasure on the face of the earth, more important that fuel or food or ammunition. She was the last thing of worth, and Claire couldn't even recall someone ever looking at her like that before. Her question, though, was a simple one: Why couldn't Alice see that she looked back the same way?

It was fear. Attachments were a death sentence. Falling in love was even worse, but Claire had long ago stopped caring. She had stopped caring the first night they had spent beside the fire, laughing and exchanging stories of their pasts. She had stopped caring the second Alice looked at her with those smoldering crystal eyes, causing her heart to pound in her chest and her breath to catch. She had stopped caring...but Alice hadn't.

"I...I can't do this." Alice made to stand, pulling her hand away from Claire's, but the redhead wasn't ready for her to leave.

"No, Alice. Stop." The words in themselves seemed to be enough to cease her movements, but Claire wasn't done yet. "Stop running from me."

For every step she had taken forward, the blond retreated two. This wasn't the first time Alice had run out on her, but Claire was determined it would be the last. She could see Alice was fighting it, the attraction between them. She could see how she tried to stay away, and she didn't understand it. Everything in her shouted for this, craved it. Didn't Alice feel the same?

"I can't...I can't do this," the blond repeated defeatedly.

"Why?" There was frustration in her voice, but it was more than that. She wasn't just frustrated, she was confused as hell. Alice turned tortured eyes on her, and the answer Claire had been searching for for weeks was immediately apparent. There was no missing the self-hate in the blond's eyes. There was no missing the desperation, desperation to make her understand when she refused to. She longed to take away that hatred, and it strengthened her resolve.

"I'm not safe." The blond's voice was just as tortured as her eyes, and the hand resting on her own tightened in the slightest. Claire smiled, the laugh lines framing her prefect lips making Alice yearn more than anything to kiss her.

"No, Alice. Don't you see?" At the other woman's confused expression, Claire elaborated, leaning forward in the slightest to once more catch the eyes that had again fallen from her own. Only when they met did she continue, "I only ever feel safe when I'm with you."

_It frightens me to know so well_

_The place I shouldn't go_

_But I know I've got to take the noble path_

_Cause I don't want you to question_

_The intentions that I have_

She wasn't equipped to handle this. Her mental arsenal was impressive, to be certain, but she lacked anything to handle this. She was unprepared, vulnerable, and she didn't like it. She was used to having all the answers, knowing exactly how to handle every situation and act it out with perfection as if she had rehearsed the deed a hundred times. But this...it was too much. She didn't even know how to begin to handle this.

She cracked. Her eyes burned and stung with unshod tears, but she couldn't force herself to look away to conceal them even if she wanted to. "Please don't do this."

"Why are you running from this?" It was Claire's turn to plead.

"Because, we both know what will happen." She spoke fervently, intensely, trying desperately to make Claire understand what she did with perfect clarity. "One of us will die eventually, and where will that leave the other?" She found the will to look away, casting her eyes to ground in an attempt to conceal the raging emotions that had long shattered her mask to shards. "I can't do that to you."

Claire's free hand reached up, cupping the blond's cheek in her palm. The warmth sent tingles down Alice's spine, and, against her will, she leaned against the contact. After only a few bare seconds, gentle force guided her head back up, and their eyes met yet again. Alice was surprised to see fear spotted there, and everything in her screamed to take that fear away.

"And what if it's me, Alice?" the redhead whispered softly, the expression in her eyes mirrored by her tones. "What if I'm the one that's taken?"

Alice couldn't even process the thought. A world without Claire...a morning where she couldn't wake up and look into those beautiful eyes, or smell that heavenly scent was more than just terrifying. It was crushing. A world without Claire would truly be dead and barren.

"Do you think that's something I want to leave you with?" Claire paused, taking a moment to twine their fingers together. Palm pressed against palm, and the callouses on the blond's hands brushed coarsely against the softness of her skin. "But..." she hesitated, hesitancy taking over. She looked down at their hands, fitting perfectly against one another, the lethal fingers of the super-weapon pressed so very gentle against her own.

"But what..." Alice found herself hanging on every word, completely under the redhead's mercy.

"But I think it's to late for both of us," Claire whispered, ever-so-softly.

"It's never too late," the blond replied just as softly, finding the barest amount of will-power left inside of her. It was physical torture forcing those words from her lips, almost as painful as staying away when all she wanted to do was be close. She had to end this...before it was, indeed, to late. It was too late for her, but maybe Claire could be salvaged.

_I Should Go_

_Before my will gets any weaker_

_And my eyes begin to linger_

_Longer than they should_

_I Should Go_

_Before I lose my sense of reason_

_And this hour holds more meaning_

_Than it ever could_

_I Should Go_

_Baby I Should Go_

She couldn't have been more wrong. There was no turning back, not for Claire. She didn't know when she had started to fall for with the mysterious stranger, but she had, and there was no taking that back now. She didn't know when she started to love everything about the blond, like the way her lips twitched when she was trying not to smile, or the graceful way she moved. She didn't know when she started to love the way Alice said her name, or the look in her eyes when they gazed at one another. She didn't know when she had started, but there was no turning back now.

"It _is _too late. It's too late for me." It was exactly what Alice feared, and she expected disappointment. Therefore, she wasn't prepared for elation. "Is it too late for you?"

At the words, the carefully constructed walls came tumbling down, leaving nothing behind but a pile of rubble and broken resolve. It was far too late for her. It had been too late the moment she set eyes upon the beautiful, strong, confident convoy leader.

She could feel Claire's eyes boring into her, and she knew she didn't need to answer. The redhead already knew...but she felt the need to. "It was too late for me the moment we met."

Claire flashed a brilliant smile, knowing she had won. Without another word, she leaned forward, brushing their lips together in the softest of kisses. Alice melted into the embrace, all of her doubts and fears alleviated. Claire's hands reached up, distangling from Alice's, to thread through the woman's short cropped hair, deepening the kiss. The blond's own hands lifted to frame the redhead's face, pulling her ever closer in the embrace she had craved more than anything from the first day.

It only took a moment for the kiss to deepen, Claire's mouth opening with a small moan. Alice complied, their tongues battling for dominance in each others mouths. Neither was sure how long they kissed, but it didn't matter. When they finally pulled apart, their pulses racing and breathing ragged, Claire once more flashed a vibrant smile.

"It's about time," she whispered softly, her voice almost as hoarse as Alice's typically was. The blond gave a breathless laugh, closing the sparse distance between them to place a soft, chaste kiss on the other woman's heavenly soft lips.

"Wait till Kmart finds out," she said with a soft smile, causing the redhead's face to temporarily fall. The teenager had been all over both of their cases for weeks. Very little got past the Kmart, and it seemed the two women hadn't been covert enough about their attractions.

"Let's not tell her just yet," Claire commented, provoking another smile from the super-weapon, which Claire returned.

"Deal."

Claire's face became serious, her eyes searching the blue ones before her. One hand moved to Alice's face, brushing her thumb lightly against the defined cheekbone. "You don't have to be alone anymore."

Alice flashed a wide smile, leaning close to lean their forehead's together. "No...I don't." With that, the two women came together again, sinking to the sands, the glow of the fire illuminating their bodies.

**Parting Words:** Hehehehehe I LOVE this song! I hope you liked it! This isn't the last of it, so stay tuned. And remember, reviews make updates faster!


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